Germany is made up o saxteen Länder (singular Land, colloquially (but rarely in a legal context) cried Bundesland, for "federated state") which are pairtly sovereign constituent states o the Federal Republic o Germany. Land literally translates as "kintra", an constitutionally speakin, they are constituent kintras. Aften referred tae in Inglis an Scots bi German speakers as "states", the term "Land" (wi an uppercase 'L') is uised in the offeecial Inglis version o the Basic Law[1] and in UK parliamentary proceedings.[2] Housomeivver, it is sometimes translatit as "federal states" in other publications.[3]

Although the term Land applees tae aw states, some are an aw describit as "states" in German. Each o the states o Bavarie, Saxony, an Thuringie offeecially describes itsel as a "state" (Staat) an mair specifically as a "free state" (Freistaat). Berlin, Hamburgh an Bremen are frequently cried Stadtstaaten (city-states).

The remaining 13 states are cried Flächenländer (literally: aurie kintras).